Carmella
Leah Van Damme (born October 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the World Wrestling Entertainment's developmental brand NXT under the ring name Carmella. World Wrestling Entertainment NXT (2014-present) In June 2013, Van Damme signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. She was sent to the company's developmental program NXT in late September. On December 16, 2013, she announced her new ring name was Carmella. She made her in-ring debut at a NXT live event in Tampa on June 6, 2014, where she portrayed a villainess and defeated Devin Taylor. On the following day at an NXT live event in Ft. Pierce, Carmella was defeated by Devin Taylor in a rematch. At the July 31 NXT TV tapings, she was defeated by Natalya in a dark match. Carmella made her NXT TV debut on the September 4 episode in a backstage segment with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassaday when they visit her at the salon she works at to get some hair removal cream and Enzo spills in a customers poodle. On the September 18 episode of NXT, Carmella sneaks backstage and tells Enzo and Cass she lost her job at the salon due to them and she wants them to teach her to be a 'fighter'. In the following weeks, Carmella begins training with the help of Enzo and Cass. Carmella made her in-ring debut on the October 16 episode of NXT, where she quickly defeated Leva "Blue Pants" Bates, and also referred to herself as "The Staten Island Princess." Two weeks later on NXT, the evil Carmella defeated Emma in singles action. Carmella defeated Bates again via submission on the November 27 edition of NXT, but she would lose to Bates on the January 1, 2015 edition of NXT. In March, Amore and Cassady began a rivalry with the NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy, while Blake and Murphy attempted to woo Carmella on several occasions, which turned Carmella into a babyface. On the May 13 episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy distracted Carmella during her match with Alexa Bliss, causing her to lose.10 At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, during Amore and Cassady's NXT Tag Team Championship match against Blake and Murphy, Carmella was attacked by the evil Alexa Bliss, who became a villainess by ensuring the win for Blake and Murphy In the beginning of January 2016, Carmella received her first singles push as she won a battle royal to become the number one contender to Bayley's NXT Women's Championship. Carmella received her championship match against Bayley, on the February 10 episode of NXT, but she was unsuccessful in capturing the title. After the match, Eva Marie and Nia Jax attacked the two, which led to a tag team match, on the February 24 episode of NXT, where Carmella and Bayley were on the losing side. Carmella made her first appearance on WWE's main roster on March 12 at Roadblock, accompanying Amore and Cassady to their match against The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship. On the May 25 episode of NXT, Carmella competed in a triple–threat match against Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss to determine the number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: The End, which was won by Jax. Main roster (2016-present) On July 19, Carmella was drafted to SmackDown as a part of the 2016 WWE Draft. Carmella made her main roster debut for the brand on July 26, where she confronted the brand female talents before being interrupted by Eva Marie. Two weeks later, Carmella defeated Natalya on the August 9 episode of SmackDown, marking her first victory on the main roster. The following week, Carmella teamed with Becky Lynch in a successful victory against Natalya, and Alexa Bliss, after a distraction provided by Eva Marie, and Naomi. A six-woman tag team match was announced for SummerSlam between Carmella, Lynch, and Naomi against Natalya, Bliss, and Marie, but following Eva Marie's suspension on August 18, her place was taken by the returning Nikki Bella, and Carmella's team would ultimately lose the match at the pay-per-view, which would be also her debut on one of them. On the August 23 episode of SmackDown, Carmella was set to face off against Nikki Bella, only for Nikki to be interviewed by Renee Young inside the ring. Carmella began turning heel by attacking Nikki, canceling their scheduled singles match, and on Talking Smack, the evil Carmella attacked Nikki a second time during her interview, cementing Carmella's heel turn. At Backlash, on September 11, Carmella competed in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural WWE SmackDown Women's Champion; Carmella would eliminate Nikki, but was eliminated by Becky Lynch, who ultimately won the title. Carmella would then start a feud with Nikki, attacking her from behind each week which would set up for a singles match between them at WWE No Mercy, in which Carmella was unsuccessful. The feud continued after the pay-per-view event, with Carmella stating the only reason Nikki got to where she is today is because of her sister Brie Bella, and boyfriend John Cena. After being revealed as one of the members on the SmackDown women's team on the November 1 episode of SmackDown, during a match against Nikki Bella on the November 15 episode of SmackDown, RAW Women's Champion Charlotte appeared at ringside, causing a distraction and a brawl between all members of the Raw women's team and the SmackDown women's team. At the Survivor Series pay-per-view, after Nikki Bella was mysteriously attacked backstage, which caused Natalya to become her replacement, the SmackDown women's team went on to compete against the Raw women's team, but was unsuccessful in winning the match. In an attempt to finally end her feud with Nikki Bella, Carmella competed in a no-disqualification match against Nikki at the TLC pay-per-view, but was defeated, and would afterwards reveal to Nikki that her attacker at Survivor Series was not her, but her fellow Total Divas co-star Natalya. Carmella would compete in multiple singles matches against Natalya to prove to Nikki Bella that Natalya was her attacker, and would come out victorious on the December 13 episode of SmackDown. On the December 20 episode of SmackDown, after Carmella again revealed more secrets about Natalya to Nikki, Natalya would attack Carmella then admit to attacking Nikki at Survivor Series, revealing her pent-up jealousy of her success for years, thus ending her feud with Nikki Bella. On December 20, Carmella started a storyline with James Ellsworth, professing that she found him "uniquely attractive". On January 3, 2017, Ellsworth started accompanying Carmella to the ring during her matches. Other media Edit